Bible Study (July 16) - Genesis 1

Genesis 1:9-13 Third Day of Creation

verses 9-10 Land and seas were separated. And God saw that it was good.
verses 11-13 Trees and vegetations were created - seeds reproduce according to their kind.

Is it not interesting to know that God authored the cycle of reproduction? And take note, it is according to its own kind. Also, take note that seeds bring new life. The plant grows, it gives out fruits, and from the fruits come out seeds. The plant dies then the seed will be planted and come out as new plant again.

There is another Seed mentioned in the Bible. In Galatians 3:16 it said, “The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ”. Also in Galatians 3:29 it said, “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Christ is the Seed who died, and on the third day, rose again to give life to many people like you and me. God promised Abraham to be father of many nations (Genesis 17:4). We now that we too belong to Abraham, being believers in Christ. Romans 4:17 said, “As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed — the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.”

Is it not interesting to know that on the third day of creation, God started to create life (at least plant life), and life that reproduce? Christ resurrected on the third day to give new life to all who will trust and believe in His atoning work for mankind. Unfortunately, people started to mess up with what God had originally designed. We now produce crops that are seedless (i.e. grapes, tomatoes, melons, etc). Who want to eat seeds anyway, right? Wrong, those seeds need to reproduce their own kind. Christians too need to reproduce and we need to sow the original Seed - who is Christ, in the hearts of people.

Genesis 1:14-19 Fourth Day of Creation


verses 14-15: Creation of sun, moon, and stars is described in general terms.

verse 16: The term lights mean "luminaries". The word can designate the sun, which emits light, or the moon, which reflects light. And the stars, "also" which emit lights.

God set the sun, moon, and stars for the "signs and seasons" that determine our days, months, and years; and it also became the earliest form of navigation in the old days. Depending on the phases of the moon, and the position of the stars, a skilled sailor can navigate through the oceans. We had the likes of Columbus, Magellan, and other sailor-discoverers who traversed and braved the seas and oceans using the sun, moon, and stars for navigation. Now, they popularized the GPS system we are using J, only this time using man-made “stars” such as satellites – we have Magellan GPS for example. But then, when everything else fails and our moral compass are broken, God is still there guiding us – with His Spirit, even with His sun, moon, and stars reminding us of His greatness and holiness.

Now in the ancient days, people worshiped, deified, and mystified the stars. Other religions either worship the sun, moon, the stars, or all of them. Pagan Arabs worshiped them all, and many believed that Islam religion extracted one of the moon gods called "Hubal" and eventually worshiping that god as Allah or Al-ilah. And therefore, the Islam religion has a crescent moon as a symbology in many landscapes and also the flags of Muslim countries. In 1950's, a statue of the moon god was excavated in the Middle East, with the crescent moon embossed on its chest.

But not to single out the Islam religion, other eastern religions as far as China, India, and other African countries have moon gods too but different names. Yet, we know that even in Muslim countries, and Buddhist countries, God is working and many people are turning to Christ for salvation - many of them claimed they were disoriented by their religions, and don't fill in that God-shaped vacuum in the hearts of people. Many of the persecuted Muslim-Christians who seek asylum to the U.S. are now preaching Christ back to their countries.